The use of rigid side guards with hospital beds is well known for preventing injuries to persons confined to the beds. For example, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,083,334 and 5,179,744.
As disclosed in the aforementioned patents, various configurations of side guards are secured to opposite sides of a hospital bed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,334 describes side guards that are pivotally connected to a hospital bed base. The side guards can be raised above the bed to provide a vertical barrier for preventing a bedridden person from accidentally falling over the sides of the bed, thereby incurring injuries. Alternatively, the side guards can be lowered below the bed to enable the person to be placed on, or removed from, the bed without being hindered by the side guards.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,744 describes side guards mounted to opposite sides of a hospital bed to prevent the patient from falling over the side of the bed. The side guards are movable inwardly to enable the width of the bed to be adjusted from a full size bed width of about 42 inches to a narrow stretcher size bed having a width of about 34 inches. Reducing the width of the bed facilitates transporting the patient from place to place. In this regard, reducing the width of the bed enables it to pass through corridors and doorways, and to negotiate corners with ease.
Although such side guards have been satisfactory for preventing injuries, they do not afford any relief to discomfort suffered by a person due to their confinement to the bed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,800,342 and 4,287,620 are representative of previous methods and apparatus for alleviating the discomfort of a person resting on a hospital bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,342 describes a body support assembly for supporting the body from below the bed by means of an envelope containing a fluid. The assembly includes sideboard members pivotally connected to the base of the bed, wherein the envelope extends over the sideboards as well as the base. In order to adjust the depth of the envelope over the base to accommodate persons of varying weight thereon, the sideboards can be raised or lowered accordingly.
For example, a heavy person requires the sideboards to be raised, thereby concentrating the fluid in the envelope above the base and preventing the fluid from entering the envelope adjacent to the sideboards due to the force of gravity. This ensures that the depth of the envelope under the patient is sufficiently deep to support the body weight above the base. In this way, the person floats on a cushion of fluid above the base to prevent high pressure points where the body weight would normally be concentrated at the base, thereby avoiding the occurrence of bedsores.
The support of a patient is accomplished in U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,620 by using pillow like side guards on the hospital bed in the vicinity of the head to prevent it from rolling to its side. In addition, there is described therein left and right side longitudinal supports connected rotatably to the bed which can be raised to facilitate turning the patient over.
In this regard, one of the side longitudinal supports is raised, depending upon whether it is desired to place the patient on their right or left side. By raising one of the side longitudinal supports, a force is applied to one side only of the patient, thereby raising the associated side of the patient and reducing the work required to turn the patient partially over. Once the patient has been repositioned on their side, the side longitudinal support is lowered and disengaged from the patient.
While such body support apparatus may have been adequate to prevent bedsores, to prevent the head from rolling sideways, or to facilitate turning a patient partially over, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved method of supporting the chest and abdomen of a person laying in a supine position, and the apparatus for doing so. In particular, obese persons suffer from discomfort due to laying in a supine position on a bed or other similar horizontal surface for extended periods of time. In this regard, the body weight itself presses down on internal cavities and organs of the body under the force of gravity. The resulting compression of the chest and abdomen can make the person feel as though they are being crushed under their own body weight, and can cause chest pains, among other things.
Similarly, pregnant women suffer from the compression of the abdomen due to gravitational forces. The additional body weight due to the presence of the growing fetus tends to press down on internal organs and cavities, thereby increasing the discomfort of the person.
The discomfort associated with gravitational forces compressing the chest and abdomen areas of obese or pregnant persons is compounded during surgical procedures. In this regard, the weight of the body mass pressing down on the unsupported chest and abdomen can cause the person to experience breathing difficulties. To ensure that breathing during the surgical procedure is not reduced to a dangerous level, the insertion of a breathing tube for facilitating fluid communication between the lungs and a source of oxygen may be required. Thus, the obese or pregnant person might have to endure the crush of their own weight, as well as the insertion of a breathing tube into a body cavity, such as the nasal or oral cavity, during the surgical procedure.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved method of supporting a chest and abdomen, and an apparatus for accomplishing the same. Such a method should reduce the discomfort felt by obese or pregnant persons laying in a supine position, and should be accomplished with an apparatus that can be easily adjusted for persons of varying sizes and weights.